Making it in Vermont: These Vermont homes will move to New York this summer

Editor’s note: Making it in Vermont is an ongoing series by VTDigger’s business reporter Anne Wallace Allen looking at companies and industries driving innovation in the state. If you have ideas about inspiring entrepreneurs or companies, send them to Anne at awallaceallen@vtdigger.org.

A Hartford company is building 13 modular homes that it plans to ship to New York City this summer for a Habitat for Humanity project.

Vermod makes 1,000-square-foot net zero energy homes with solar panels on the roof. The homes have a base price of about $190,000 installed and are designed to return the solar power they generate to the power grid.

The Habitat for Humanity homes will fill 13 small lots scattered through Queens that will be sold to income-qualified buyers through a lottery later this year. Vermod was one of about a dozen modular and prefab home companies that the project leaders considered, said project architect Grayson Jordan, an associate architect with the New York firm Paul A. Castrucci, Architect. The project RFP called for a very energy efficient home.

The New York City job is the most complex assignment yet for Vermod, which was started by Hartford builder Steven Davis as state and local officials sought new affordable housing after Tropical Storm Irene demolished several Vermont mobile home parks in 2011. Davis, who had been building energy-efficiency conventional homes since 2008, built 11 modular homes that fit the specifications for the parks.

“He probably had five employees working there” at the time, said Kristen Connors, Davis’ niece and now the company’s general manager. Davis then moved his company to its existing manufacturing plant in Wilder and now Vermod makes 25 to 40 units per year for homes based on one to four units. It has 15 workers.

The company provided units to build 14 duplexes for an Addison County community put together by Addison County Community Trust and the nonprofit Cathedral Square Corp. housing organization in 2017, and last fall delivered a four-unit home in Massachusetts.

“We looked at a few different models, but this one was better in terms of quality, durability, and energy,” said Cindy Reid, director of development at Cathedral Square, about Vermod. “When we’re developing long-term affordable rental housing, we really need to look at durability and built to last. The quality was just way higher than alternatives.”

While modular homes experience a brief mobility while they’re being shipped to a site, they are designed to be fixed and permanent and they are usually placed on a conventional foundation or on piers. That sets them apart from manufactured homes, which are built on a steel chassis and can be towed even after installation. Vermod works hard to set its products apart from the manufactured variety.

“That’s a bad word for us,” said Ashley Andreas, who explains the homes to prospective customers. “It’s not a trailer home. There’s a legal difference.”

Modular homes are made of wood and must meet all local building codes, said Andreas. Vermod’s homes are clad in vinyl with steel standing-seam roofs cut in the company’s Hartland plant. The interiors are wood with bamboo floors, Energy Star utility systems, and structural insulated panels on the roof.Connors said the company gets most of its materials from Goodro Lumber in Killington.

“We’re trying to change the stigma that surrounds mobile home parks and create a better product that is obtainable, affordable and healthy for anybody no matter what their price point is,” Connors said.

Vermod also created and delivered 13 homes for the Lamoille Housing Partnership’s Evergreen Manor Mobile Home Park.

Connors got involved in the company in 2015 after working in insurance for 13 years. By then, Davis was selling homes as far away as Burlington, Hardwick and Shelburne. At 72 feet long, the full-size structures are slightly longer than most of the modular or other homes that travel by road, and Davis had trailers custom-made by a company in Pennsylvania.

The two model homes at Vermod’s Hartland factory contain wall-size Sonnen batteries that can store the solar energy generated on the roof in case of power outages. The homes in the Addison County project, on a site in Waltham and Vergennes, also contain the batteries, which were installed without charge by Green Mountain Power.

“We had 14 homes producing energy on the grid, and (Green Mountain Power) needs to manage peak times and who is producing and who is drawing,” Reid said. “During peak times they can take solar panels offline and draw from the battery. It was a tool to help the utility and to create resilient homes so if the power does go down, they still have heat and lights.”

Connors expects the New York installation to be the most complex yet.

“They are nestled right in there, one after another. Some sites have trees sitting in front of them; there are electric wires running through the streets,” she said. “My uncle loves complicated projects.”

As with all of Vermod’s projects, the units will be delivered with all finishes and appliances in place. Habitat for Humanity will have poured the foundations, and Connors said it will take a week for each home’s structural, electrical and plumbing connections to be completed.

Also like the others, the New York homes will have rooftop solar panels. While connected to the grid, they are designed to produce at least as much energy as they consume. They will be tall and thin, made of three units on top of each other, with the third box primarily used as roof space.

Habitat for Humanity has signed a letter of intent for the project, and Connors expects construction of the 13 homes to continue over the next two years.

The New York project specifically calls for net zero energy homes. With Vermod, “(we) were working with a system that we felt we could work with that made sense for us, as far as how they built,” Jordan said. “And then another big thing was they are delivering a nearly complete building, versus some of the panelized systems where you get your walls and then you do everything else.”

Vermod also makes sense because labor costs in Wilder are lower than they are in Queens, said Jordan.

“There is a cost in transporting these things and using a crane to erect them, but it is offset by the ability of Vermod – they’re in a factory, so it’s a little more controlled, and that can offset the cost,” Jordan said. “And the other thing is we’re getting a known product from people who are really passionate about energy efficiency; that is another criteria.”

Connors and Davis have talked about franchising and about expanding nationally, but “I think right now the main goal is to perfect our process and just really get good at what we are doing,” she said. “I’d hate to lose sight of our vision.”

Paul Castrucci Architect is an award winning architecture firm when it comes to passive house and net zero construction. The firm’s process is the driven by continuing education and site visits that help inform design. The firm is always looking to the latest technology to create additional value for clients as well as adhere to its mission of creating sustainable design.

Think about building a net-zero energy home with all its challenge except in remote regions with temperatures dropping to - 60 F for extended periods of time? As part of a graduate research, at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, Asok proposed a protocol that uses delivery of prefabricated homes to build affordable net-zero energy homes for Canada’s northern regions. As part of the research, 1200 homes built in the North since the 1950s were evaluated to study its impacts of energy policies on home. The findings were presented at the 7th International Building Physics Conference in September 2018 in Syracuse, USA.

Paul Castrucci Architect team is proud to support RiseBoro. This year the firm was pleased to attend their benefit gala at the Brooklyn Museum. The evening opened with My Voice Theater Group. RiseBoro works with both seniors and youth to create innovative community programming.

The evening was also a special moment to recognize Maria Viera VP Community Affairs taking over Angela Battaglia's position as she is set retire next year. Veteran leader of RiseBoro, Angela Battaglia, was critical in developing RiseBoro over the past 42 years and cultivating top talent like CEO Scott Short.

The gala was more thank just a fundraiser but also a platform for supporters to engage and support new programs. Supporters were given the opportunity to meet new community leaders and hear their presentation on new programming. At the end of the night supporters got a chance to vote on the future community programs and make a contribution.

In the News

As Andreas Benzing notes in the introduction to a new guide, From Small to Extra-Large : Passive House Rising to New Heights, "New York City is fast becoming becoming a Passive House epicenter of the country" - Treehugger by Lloyd Alter

"Three projects by Paul A. Castrucci Architect are described in the publication, including ABC No Rio’s new headquarters in the Lower East Side, which is one of the first passive commercial buildings in the city . . . The thermal breaks are essential for reducing energy consumed in regulating the interior temperatures throughout the seasons, according to the passive building philosophy."- Architect Newspaper by Alex Wong

Certified Passive House Designer and team member of Paul A. Castrucci Architect, Asok Thirunavukarasu, will be presenting a paper at this year's International Building Physics Conference (IBPC). IBPC2018 brings together researchers, scientists, architects, engineers and businesses involved in building physics, to present original research and findings, demonstrate and exhibit innovative green building technologies, and discuss future challenges and opportunities. Link to more information.

The International Building Physics Conference (IBPC) takes place every 3 years and it will be the first time this conference has been held in the United States. The conference will advance the collective understanding of the nature and behavior of the cyber-physical systems in these different scales, how they interact, and what can be done to optimize their design and operation for healthy, intelligent and resilient buildings and urban environments.

Impact of an Energy Efficiency Regulation in Northern Canada

ABSTRACTExtreme cold climates and Canada’s sparsely populated Northern regions have limited human and infrastructural capacity making it difficult to build energy-efficient homes. Despite such differences, homes are built based on codes and standards developed for Canada’s South. In 2008, a by-law was passed in Yellowknife, Canada requiring a minimum EnerGuide Housing (EGH) rating of 80 for all new single-family and two-family residential buildings. The EnerGuide’s Energy Rating Service (ERS) program is an energy assessment program for residential housing formerly known as the EnerGuide Rating for Houses (EGH). Homes are rated between 0 to 100; lower numbers represent homes that are less efficient and 100 represents an airtight and well-insulated house that is net-zero energy. 1002 homes from the City of Yellowknife evaluated since 1950s were studied from the ERS database, Performance metrics studied include energy intensity, EGH rating, ACH rating, window types, the thermal resistance of the building envelope, primary heating and hot water heating equipment’s efficiencies, total electricity used, and total energy used. The analysis identified the current state of housing in Yellowknife, past and present housing trends, and determined the effect of the city of Yellowknife’s new building by-law had on housing performance. The preliminary finding shows a pathway to significantly improve the energy efficiency of the housing stock in Yellowknife. This regulation shows other municipalities in Canada that legislations pushing energy efficient buildings can be very effective

Low Carbon Productions is one of the leading publishers of the latest information on Passive House Building. They cover the latest developments and trends in building energy efficiency.

Paul A. Castrucci, Architect is a supporter of Low Carbon Production and was featured extensively in this year's publication "From Small to Extra Large: Passive House Rising to New Heights" Link to E-book Download

Mayor Bill de Blasio has called climate change “the challenge of our generation,” and New York City has responded to this challenge by committing to achieving greenhouse gas reductions of 80% by 2050. “The leadership shown by Governor Cuomo and New York State to make bold emissions reductions commitments is vital to solving the climate crisis,” says former Vice President Al Gore.

It is exciting to see the application of Passive House evolving from small single-family homes to extra-large skyscrapers. New York Passive House is committed to advancing policy that recognizes the critical contributions of low-energy, high-performance Passive House buildings to support our state’s clean-energy transformation.

Press

As Andreas Benzing notes in the introduction to a new guide, From Small to Extra-Large : Passive House Rising to New Heights, "New York City is fast becoming becoming a Passive House epicenter of the country" - Treehugger by Lloyd Alter

"Three projects by Paul A. Castrucci Architect are described in the publication, including ABC No Rio’s new headquarters in the Lower East Side, which is one of the first passive commercial buildings in the city . . . The thermal breaks are essential for reducing energy consumed in regulating the interior temperatures throughout the seasons, according to the passive building philosophy."- Architect Newspaper by Alex Wong

"Many of the aforementioned projects are featured in From Small to Extra Large: Passive House Rising to New Heights, the first e-book guide produced by Passive House Buildings, detailing over 50 works that were built to the energy standard. And in June, the organization held what Benzing called “our biggest conference yet, with nearly 600 attendees and 38 expo booths.” . . . But passive house certainly appears to offer a model that ensures that new projects are doing more good than harm to our environment, which is encouraging." - The Cooperator by Mike Odenthal

As New York City grapples with the challenges of fitting a growing population into its finite borders, residents and government alike must reexamine how we use our public land. The predominant community development models of prior decades, used when eradicating urban blight was the priority, are outdated. Now that we have transformed a city full of vacant lots into a city full of people, we must ensure that all public land is put to its highest and best use. This prevailing need to do more with less has in some cases, drawn new battle lines where alliances once existed.

Nonprofit community development organizations like RiseBoro Community Partnership and Habitat for Humanity New York City, as stewards of public resources, are often the ones tasked with meeting competing public priorities within constrained environments. We have found that the growing scarcity of available public land has pitted potential allies, open space advocates and affordable housing advocates, against each other in competition for a dwindling piece of the pie.

This resource rivalry has most recently, and perhaps most tragically, resurfaced in relation to projects serving communities which are facing increasing market value, where inequitable market forces threaten to push out longtime residents. As an ongoing impact of historic inequity continuing to play out across the city, communities now feel pressured to choose between affordable housing resources or open space access. We believe that the choice between affordable housing and open space is a false dichotomy, that they are in fact complementary components of thriving communities, and that we can and must have both at the same time.

The complex goals of communities must be addressed holistically, with a commitment to developing assets that enrich and empower resident experience. This can only be achieved when projects that utilize public assets are developed to explicitly maximize public benefit. Affordable housing and open public space are both essential to the health and vitality of communities, but must not be considered a zero sum game.

CityViews is City Limits’ showcase for opinions from around the city and the world.

RiseBoro and Habitat NYC’s partnership with Pennrose Properties to redevelop a City-owned parcel, which is currently utilized as a community-led garden space, into a new project known as Haven Green accomplishes just that – preserving access to cherished open space while providing affordable homes for one of our most vulnerable populations.

Seniors are the fastest growing population in the United States, and the need for affordable senior housing has never been greater. A study by LiveOn estimates 200,000 individuals remain on the waiting list for senior affordable housing throughout New York City, averaging seven years. Affordable housing is especially difficult to find for the historically marginalized LGBTQ community. At the same time, we understand the desire of many in Little Italy to preserve every piece of publicly accessible open space in an increasingly gentrified community. That is why our proposal for Haven Green is a marriage of these ideals: more than 120 units of low-income, LGBTQ-friendly, senior housing located within a public, locally-stewarded garden reimagined through a community-led participatory design process.

Engaging with complex narratives and creating collaborative opportunity where potential conflict exists is the essence of the challenging and rewarding work of community development. We believe that when government, communities, and mission-driven developers work together we can create projects that empower individuals, satisfy multiple priorities, and deliver wide-ranging social benefit. Threading this needle successfully is critical to the urgent work of making our cities livable and sustainable for generations to come.

Karen Haycox is the CEO of Habitat for Humanity New York City and Scott Short is the CEO of RiseBoro Community Partnership.

Sustainability Consultant: Right Environments

This year's conference was focused on a combination of innovative approaches and technologies involving passive house process and issues from the perspective "From Small to Extra Large - Beyond the Envelope". The passive house standards have been proven to "reduce building energy consumption and greenhouse gas emissions by up to 90%" according to New York Passive House. Every year the conference becomes a nexus for professionals and practitioners working on energy efficiency initiatives and high performance buildings to come together. This year Paul A. Castrucci, Architect was a supporter and participant delivering two presentations. During the Expo Paul A. Castrucci, Architect meet with project partners and suppliers: Klearwall, NYSERDA, 475 High Performance Building Supply, Bright Power, and Rockwool.

During the New York Passive House Conference & Expo weekend architects were invited to participate in the International Summer House Days. Paul A. Castrucci, Architect and ZeroEnergy Design joined New York Passive House (NYPH) for the Summer International Passive House Days. NYPH tours offers the public and industry experts a first hand interaction with Passive Houses. Paul A. Castrucci, RA and Sissily Harrell guided the open house tour on Friday, June 8 from 4-6pm. The architects also held a discussion and educational event on site for builders, engineers, architects, developers, affordable homeowners and green building enthusiasts to learn more about the project. This open house is notable because it will be the first Passive House in Sunnyside Gardens project.

The Sunnyside Gardens Residence is a 1000 sqft single family row house located in the Sunnyside Gardens Historical District in Queens, New York. Built in 1925, this compact 3 bedroom row house was design by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright in the Art Deco style. The structure will undergo an extensive renovation that carefully incorporates Passive House EnerPHit standards with the building elements that contribute to the special architectural character of the district, including siting, style, scale, material and detailing. Link to full press release

Paul A. Castrucci, Architect and ZeroEnergy Design joins New York Passive House (NYPH) for the Summer International Passive House Days. NYPH tours offer the public and industry experts a first hand interaction with Passive Houses. Paul A. Castrucci, RA and Sissily Harrell will guide the open house tour on Friday, June 8 from 4-6pm. The architects will also hold a discussion and educational event on site for builders, engineers, architects, developers, affordable homeowners and green building enthusiasts to learn more about the project. This open house is notable because it will be the first Passive House in Sunnyside Gardens project.

The Sunnyside Gardens Residence is a 1000 sqft single family row house located in the Sunnyside Gardens Historical District in Queens, New York. Built in 1925, this compact 3 bedroom row house was design by Clarence Stein and Henry Wright in the Art Deco style. The structure will undergo an extensive renovation that carefully incorporates Passive House EnerPHit standards with the building elements that contribute to the special architectural character of the district, including siting, style, scale, material and detailing.

Sunnyside Gardens was built from 1924 to 1928 as a philanthropic effort to ‘encourage greater equity in housing production, location, and design’ and stands as one of America’s best examples of low-density, low-rise residential development. Inspired by the English Garden City movement, the district was based on a concept that combines resource and environmental planning of typical urban and rural conditions to create an alternative for suburban living. A key signature for the Garden City style is the combination of single-, double, and triple- family private homes with rental apartment buildings and their arrangement around common gardens and pedestrian-friendly thoroughfares. Long-time resident Lewis Mumford called Sunnyside Gardens “An exceptional community laid out by the people who were deeply human and who gave the place a permanent expression of that humanness.”

Paul A. Castrucci Architect has worked closely with the clients, NYC Landmarks Preservation Commission, NYS Parks, Recreation & Historic Preservation, Parks Department, Queens Community Board #2 and the Hamilton Court Association to create a design that respects the character-defining features of the building and its historic context. Restoration of both primary and secondary facades begins with a particular sensitivity to the original Hudson River Brick and its corbeled detail in the entablatures of each facade. The firm received full approval from the Commission, the first in the district, on the Passive House-certified simulated double hung windows - designed to incorporate historic elements into the energy-efficient triple pane design, including shadow lines, simulated divide lights, and a simulated double-hung function (a better performing window very similar in look to the historic wooden single pane double hung window). Paul A. Castrucci Architect has carefully developed windows; paying close attention to original relationships of wall planes to windows, site lines from the street, color and material, and proper installation of all components by the contractor.

Paul Castrucci, Architect developed air sealing and brick restoration details for this project and will follow up with contractors’ training to ensure proper installation. A new R-40 roof assembly integrated with the Sunnyside Gardens Residence’s mechanical system is designed to minimize energy use. High-efficiency mini-split HVAC units heat and cool the home, taking up much less space than the typical apartments’ due to the buildings reduced heating and cooling loads. Interior space is limited in this single-family rowhouse, so ductwork is kept to a minimum size to take up as little space as possible as it passes through the interior. Precise air sealing installation will prevent thermal breaks. Hot water is supplied with heat pump hot water heaters. Energy-efficient appliances and LED lighting is used throughout. Finally, a 3.5kW Solar Photovoltaic array will be installed on the roof to achieve near Net Zero energy capability. The solar layout is hidden from street view in order to respect its historical context. The home operates entirely on electricity - no natural gas or fossil fuels are used.

Passive House is an international building standard developed in the 1990s by the Passive House Institute of Darmstadt Germany. The firm is committed to building to Passive House standards, reducing building energy use through passive measures and components such as insulation, airtightness, heat recovery, solar heat gains, solar shading and incidental internal heat gains. Passive House buildings are comfortable, affordable and create deep reductions in environmental/carbon footprint.

New York Passive House is an independent not-for-profit organization that facilitates the exchange of information and experiences, among local, national and international practitioners of the Passive House building standard.

ZeroEnergy Design is an architecture and mechanical Passive House design firm specializing in high performance homes and buildings. The firm’s commitment to innovative and ecologically sensible design is reflected in multidisciplinary knowledge base, which spans architecture, mechanical design and financial analysis. The firm supported the project as passive house consultant.

Paul A. Castrucci, Architect is an early adapter of Passive House construction having completed R-951, which is New York City’s first Net Zero Capable, Passive House certified residence. The firm has over thirty years of experience in sustainable practices with a focus on affordable residential buildings, arts facilities and community centers. The firm’s body of work reflects the firm’s commitment to sustainability in design and construction. The firm’s projects typically incorporate systems like passive and active solar heating, photovoltaic electricity generation and schemes for natural day lighting and ventilation.

Press contact: Rosalinda@castrucciarchitect.com T. 212.254.7060 x 612

Partnership Organization and Special Thanks to New York Passive House, ZeroEnergy Design and Owners of Sunnyside Residence

Paul A. Castrucci, Architect and ZeroEnergy Design are pleased to announce Solution Provider Team partnership and prequalification status for NYSERDA RetrofitNY initiative. RetrofitNY is working to create new solutions to renovate multifamily buildings while achieving or approaching net-zero energy use and creating standardized and scalable processes that will improve residents’ comfort and buildings’ energy performance. NYSERDA’s efforts support Governor Andrew M. Cuomo’s ambitious climate goals while improving the quality of life for affordable housing residents.

Through this Request for Proposals (RFP), NYSERDA is qualifying: 1) Solution Provider Teams to design high-performance retrofit solutions that approach or achieve net-zero energy performance for affordable multifamily buildings, and 2) Buildings that meet program requirements for being retrofitted with these solutions. As a prequalified team the firm will have an opportunity to pair up and submit a Joint Project Application to NYSERDA with owners of qualified buildings. Contracts will be awarded to qualified Team/Building pairs on a first come, first served basis until six contracts are awarded, or until the period for submitting Joint Project Applications expires on October 31, 2018, whichever occurs first.

RetrofitNY, a NYSERDA initiative, is revolutionizing the way buildings are renovated in New York State. Our goal is to spearhead the creation of standardized, scalable solutions and processes that will improve the aesthetic and comfort of residential buildings while dramatically improving their energy performance. RetrofitNY is working aggressively to bring a large number of affordable housing units to or near net-zero energy use by 2025, and provide new business opportunities in the State of New York.

ZeroEnergy Design (ZED) was founded with a commitment to deliver high performance for all clients as a best practice. The firm’s Consulting Practice focuses on energy consulting and mechanical design projects ranging from full renovations to new construction for architects, housing authorities, non-profit organizations, institutions, developers, and homeowners.

Paul A. Castrucci, Architect is an early adapter of Passive House construction having completed R-951, which is New York City’s first Net Zero Capable, Passive House certified residence. The firm has over thirty years of experience in sustainable practices with a focus on affordable residential buildings, arts facilities and community centers. The firm’s body of work reflects the firm’s commitment to sustainability in design and construction. The firm’s projects typically incorporate systems like passive and active solar heating, photovoltaic electricity generation and schemes for natural day lighting and ventilation.

Paul A. Castrucci Architect team for project 312-322 Canal continue the search for the best Terracotta samples for the facade. When samples arrived the firm usually reviews them over coffee and cookies this time the architectural samples that arrived are too light. Next, design meeting the firm will review all samples and continue to navigate the design process around the rich world of red hues and terracotta finishes.

On February 13, 2018 the U.S. Department of the Treasury’s Community Development Financial Institutions Fund awarded The Community Builders CDE LLC a $50 million New Markets Tax Credit allocation. This is their fourth NMTC award, which now total $140 million. They have deployed previous awards to support 16 projects of various types across eight states and Washington, D.C.

This allocation advances The Community Builders’ mission to build and sustain strong communities for people of all incomes. They plan to target this allocation to support neighborhood business and amenity projects that create jobs and economic activity while addressing needs of communities where TCB families live. We enjoy working with The Community Builders and share many core values with them.

This week our friends and neighbor Earth Matter just celebrated 10 million pounds of food scraps. Paul Castrucci Architect is a proud supporter of this mile stone as well as a daily composting via Earth Matter. Join us and start composting today!

The plan was sent back to the drawing board several times before it was finally approved on Tuesday

UPDATE 1/23/18: The city’s Landmarks Preservation Commission resoundingly approved a proposal to replace a set of low-rise commercial buildings on Canal Street with a seven-story residential building, on Tuesday.

The Commission liked the revised approval presented by the architecture firm Paul Castrucci Architect, which reduced the height of the building from nine stories to seven stories, and reduced the facade material from red brick to terra cotta, to be more in line with the buildings in the neighborhood (more details on the latest iteration of this project below).

The Commission praised the firm for heeding all of its advise from a previous hearing in July last year, but still had a few pointers. The Commissioners agreed that the architect should either do away with the current glazing on the building’s facade or try to pick a more muted version of the color they’re presently going with. They also asked the architect to reduce the ceiling height on the building’s penthouse to make it less visible from street level.

The architect will now work with the Commission’s staff to rectify those concerns as this project moves forward.

Seven months after the Landmarks Preservation Commissiondecided to take no action on the proposed new buildings at 312-322 Canal Street, a revised proposal for the project is due to be presented before the LPC at tomorrow’s meeting. It’ll be the third time that plans for this parcel of land will appear before the LPC.

Let’s back it up a bit: Paul Castrucci Architect, the firm behind the (now stalled) revamp of ABC No Rio, has been trying to get plans for a new Canal Street building approved since 2011, when changes to the storefronts those addresses encompass were made without LPC approval. (The buildings are part of the Tribeca East Historic District.) The 2011 proposal was nixed, and it took the firm until last year to come back with revised plans—which were summarily rejected by the LPC for being “completely inappropriate.”

What did the commission have an issue with? Just about everything: “There is a real problem with the monolithic aspect of this application, and it takes away from the granular nature of Canal Street,” LPC chair Meenakshi Srinivasan said during June’s meeting, where she noted that the site deserved a building that is “new and contemporary.”

It remains to be seen if the revised plans, which will be presented during tomorrow’s LPC meeting, will fit the bill. One of the biggest changes concerns the building’s height; the previous proposal put the roof height at 97 feet high, but the revised one takes it down to a bit over 86 feet (with the street-facing wall going to 76.6 feet). And rather than having a flat, brick facade, the revised plans now include a facade made from terra cotta, not so dissimilar to that of Annabelle Selldorf’s 10 Bond Street.

The building will still be home to more than a dozen apartments (most of them one-bedrooms, with one four-bedroom penthouse), with three ground floor retail spaces. Maybe, as the old adage goes, the third time’s the charm?

Take a look at the full revised plans here. We’ll update with more information on the LPC vote as it becomes available.

Think about building a net-zero energy home with all its challenge except in remote regions with temperatures dropping to - 60 F for extended periods of time? As part of a graduate research, at Concordia University in Montreal, Canada, Asok proposed a protocol that uses delivery of prefabricated homes to build affordable net-zero energy homes for Canada’s northern regions. As part of the research, 1200 homes built in the North since the 1950s were evaluated to study its impacts of energy policies on home. The findings were presented at the 7th International Building Physics Conference in September 2018 in Syracuse, USA.